America s leading Crosley collectors live here.

America s leading Crosley collectors live here (Logansport IN Pharos-Tribune, November 13, 1984) Clarence Kapraun, a teacher at Columbia School, not only owns

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, Jun 3, 2011

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America's leading Crosley collectors live here
(Logansport IN Pharos-Tribune, November 13, 1984)
Clarence Kapraun, a teacher at Columbia School, not only owns the largest Crosley collection in the country, but also supplies parts to Crosley owners all over the world.
Kapraun seeks out "new/old" Crosley parts wherever he can find them, and drags old Crosley cars home from as far away as Colorado and Florida.
Kapraun also tools up to produce Crosley parts that are extinct. Kapraun spent several thousand dollars to build the tooling needed to manufacture Crosley hub caps.
Another Logansport man, Alan Taylor, is active in keeping old Crosleys on the road. Taylor's company, Tay-Mor Industries, manufactures new wiring harnesses for the old cars.
Taylor said that while the Crosley was "ahead of its time," it was less than perfect. The car was equipped with a 3-speed, non-synchronized manual transmission. In simple terms, a Crosley with all its seats occupied had a hard time going up hills. Windows did not roll up and down. Part of the driver's door window slides back in a track.
Taylor said he has installed modern Fiat 4-speed transmissions in Crosleys, and performance has improved. Crosley, toward the end, also sold a two-seat open sports car called the Hotshot. The Crosley Hotshot looked much like the British Austin Healey Sprite that was built years later.
Kapraun said his Crosleys are for sale, and that most of them could be made to run again, despite years of inactivity, and that he could provide parts for any of the little cars for years to come.
While it might be stretching the point a bit, Logansport has what must be the only dealership in the country selling a car that hasn't been built since the year Harry Truman left the White House.

=CCOC=

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